The Evolution of Attitudes Toward Environmental Behavior in Urban Public Spaces: A Systematic Review

Document Type : Systematic Review

Authors
Anali Zargarnejad 1
Mojtaba Rafieian 2
1 Urban planing, Art, Tarbiat modarres university, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Urban planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.48311/bsnt.2026.119175.82925
Abstract
Aims: Environmental behavior, as a manifestation of individuals’ engagement with place, was initially examined within psychology and subsequently gained attention in environmental disciplines, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. While early research primarily focused on individual buildings, attention to environmental behavior in urban public spaces emerged more prominently after 2010. This study aims to develop an understanding of how environmental behavior in urban public spaces has been conceptualized and interpreted in academic literature, clarify its characteristics, and identify mechanisms for addressing challenges.
Methods: A systematic review of 92 English-language publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science was conducted using the PRISMA framework. Extracted data were coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti.
Findings: The review examined target behaviors, public-space types, populations, behavior types, research objectives, and behavioral drivers. Most studies focused on environmentally responsible behaviors, with tourists representing the most frequently studied user group and urban green spaces constituting a proportion of investigated contexts. Influencing factors were categorized into four groups: individual, environmental, person–place interaction, and structural factors.
Conclusion: Within these groups, some factors, such as gender and ethnicity, were fixed and non-modifiable, whereas others, including accessibility, infrastructure, and public awareness, were manageable and amenable to intervention. This distinction highlights opportunities to influence environmental behavior through spatial–behavioral strategies. The predominance of research on environmentally responsible behaviors among tourists in urban green spaces indicates that environmental concerns remain central. Future research should therefore adopt a more holistic and integrative approach to understanding and promoting environmental behavior in urban public spaces.
Keywords
environmental behavior
pro-enviromental behavior
urban public space
environmental psychology
place attachment
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 19 February 2026
  • Revise Date 12 March 2026
  • Accept Date 26 May 2026